I am being absolutely serious here with the Weimar Republic comparison. Because people are fucking miserable and it’s fucking terrifying.

A hundred years ago, broke people in big cities would go to fascist rallies because they were free, and because sometimes the organizers gave out free food and beer, and because people had nothing better to do.

And they stayed because hate feels good when you’re hurting and simple violent solutions appeal to the angry monkey parts of our brains.

And the fewer community connections you have - the more the economy strips your life down to work and sleep, or to job hunting and sleep, or to scrounging in the gutter to survive and sleep, and the less you go out and socialize with actual human beings - the more appealing the fascist illusion of unity, of being part of a powerful group, becomes.

And the only difference today is that the fascist rallies are beamed directly into your home.

    • stabby_cicada@slrpnk.netOP
      102·
      8 days ago

      What, I wondered, did people do on these islands? The answer was surprisingly banal. These were partly debate societies, where members could gather and talk about local issues, such as a factory that was polluting the countryside, or whether the village medical center was well stocked. The groups also organized litter pickups and painted bus benches. There was talk of movie nights.

      Under one subreddit query from nine months ago that asked, “What are the Tisza islands doing?” the responses mostly showed people coming together and being neighborly. “Things we’ve done,” began one post: “Water distribution in the heat, we collected school supplies and clothes for the family support center.” Also, “we organized a cooking competition.” This was a perfect illustration of Robert Putnam’s idea in Bowling Alone, his book about growing atomization in America—that civil society depends on people simply doing things together.

      Mutual aid groups. Prefigurative politics. Starting local with boots on the ground, finding little ways to make your community better, actually pays off.

      (Nobody tell the MLs.)

        • stabby_cicada@slrpnk.netOP
          7·
          7 days ago

          Sure. And fair. There are tons of people out there practicing anarchism-style community organization and mutual aid who get mightily offended at being called anarchists - e.g. the Zapatistas.

          That’s the cool thing about anarchism. It’s focused on building community, so its ideas work to build community, whether you’re an anarchist or not.